Mount Loretto Spur on Staten Island

Hi Tommy, a little history...

Part of that reason is because the right of way and road bed from the Amboy Road grade crossing to the end of track at the Home was privately owned by the Archdiocese of New York. It was not owned by the SIRT nor was it open to the public. SIRT provided any needed track maintenance, which the Home paid for. The name of the private station at Mount Loretto was "Mission of the Immaculate Virgin."
The branch line was originally built to bring construction materials for
large buildings at Mount Loretto and its power house in the late 1800s.
Besides supplying coal and other materials to the home over the decades, SIRT operated an every third Sunday special train from the St. George Ferry Terminal directly to Mount Loretto for relatives and visitors. It was paid for by the Archdiocese of New York.
This direct train service ended in the late 1930s and chartered Staten Island Coach Co. buses were used after that. A steam locomotive was used to haul the special trains of usually three steel MUE cars up to Mount Loretto after the 1925 electrification of the SIRT.  The branch was never electrified.

EDB / SP

hey Steve, Where exactly did the Spur branch off from? Like near Pleasant Plains?

A couple of shots of the Mt Loretto spur

The spur was right by Pleasant plains station by the double crossover   Here is a map that shows it

Here is another map with the spurs shown  

Thank you Ben. Much appreciated. It looks as if it almost goes down to Hylan Blvd then.

Very interesting information. I have a personal experience with the Mount Loretto Home that I remembered reading this thread.

In 1970 I was a senior at Cardinal Spellman HS up in the Bronx. I was in the glee Club and was in a rock band with 3 other Glee Club members. In mid-December the Glee Club director got a call and was asked to provide entertainment for the annual Christmas party for the Home's teenagers. He thought about it and rather sending the Glee Club, he asked us if we would go and get out of classes for a day. We said, "sure thing".

It was my 1st experience as a driver on the BQE (in rush hour to boot!). My 1st experience on Staten Island or the Verrazano Bridge.

We played for 6 hours for the kids who really had a good time........but, the thrill for us was the Emcee..........it was Ed Sullivan!  We evening made the local CBS news that evening!

Peter

here it is:

Good track plan. During the 1950's I visited Mount Loretto to watch cows being milked. They had a large creamery and several horses. At the time I remember a boxcar loaded with hay being unloaded.